Red deer on a Scottish island are providing scientists with some of the first evidence that wild animals are evolving to give birth earlier in the year as the climate warms.
Red deer on a Scottish island are providing scientists with some of the first evidence that wild animals are evolving to give birth earlier in the year as the climate warms.
Genetic changes to red deer on the Isle of Rum – located off the west coast of Scotland – have played a key role in a rapid shift in birth dates in recent years, new research shows.
Previous studies have shown that the deer have been giving birth earlier since the 1980s, at a rate of about three days per decade, partly due to the effects of warmer temperatures on the deer’s behaviour and physiology.
Now, a team involving Edinburgh scientists has revealed that genetic changes caused by natural selection – the theory of evolution developed by Charles Darwin – are also involved.
Read more at University of Edinburgh
Image: Red deer calf on the Isle of Rum, Scotland (Credit: J Pemberton)
